Posts Tagged ‘thriller’

I took a chance on this as I loved the blurb and I’m glad I did! Two of my favourite authors are JR Ward and Suzanne Brockmann, so to find a story that takes the best of both genres…. it makes for a truly awesome read.

It opens with a trio of sexy off-duty Navy SEALS hanging around an airport lounge, waiting for a flight to Hawaii to attend a friend’s wedding. So far, so normal, except that the Lieutenant Commander, Zane Winters, has a psychic flash of his two team-mates being shot and dying on board the plane. He comes from a highly psychic family and his friends already know to treat these flashes seriously. Then we have Beth Brown. She’s normal in every way, except that she had the most realistic dream ever the night before, in which she witnessed – in horrific detail – the hijacking of the Hawaii flight and the deaths of the 3 hotties currently waiting by the gate. She needs to warn them, but will they listen, never mind take her seriously?

She glanced at the clock on the wall behind the ticket counter… Ninety minutes to convince someone to believe her and prevent a hijacking.

A nice little bonus for Zane is that he has a soul mate somewhere. Very JR Ward.

Every year the numbness dug a little deeper, spread a little further. He’d been warned about this particular side effect of the family gift – or curse, depending on who was talking. But knowing about it, and living with it, were completely different animals.

And as soon as he sees Beth… Yep, she’s the one.

The tug towards her was incredibly strong, like she was a magnet and his bones were made of metal. He took another step forward, his body vibrating at some strange frequency.

Of course, Beth is a little more resistant to the idea.

“That’s part of the bond. The connection we share. It will strengthen as we spend more time together. You can deny it all you want, but in your heart you know we’re connected. You felt it.

This story launches straight into the action and it’s non-stop from then on. Good guys, bad guys, a twisting, turning plot that grips you and doesn’t let go. It’s right there. Going back to JR Ward again, I fell in love with this book in the opening chapter when Beth first talks to Zane and realises he’s treating her very oddly.

A wave of intense disorientation swept over her. For a moment she was convinced she was still dreaming. That she’d fallen asleep while reading one of JR Ward’s Brotherhood of the Black Dagger romances and had inserted herself in to a dream based on the book. Any moment now he was going to start growling Mine Mine Mine and let loose with some spicy bonding scent.

Loved the reference. And of course Zane thinks this – even if he doesn’t say it aloud.

Another Big-Smile-Moment came when they explained they were Navy SEALs.

“The SEAL program is the Navy’s version of Special Forces -” he started to explain.

“I know,” she broke in. “Deployed from sea, land and air. I’ve read some… ah…” She coughed, her cheeks flushing pink. “… books that had SEALs in them.”

So what else can I say? There are some fabulous kick-ass secondary characters in this, most of whom are just crying out for their own story. Mac and Amy perhaps? Or Zane’s lovely team-mates Cosky and Rawls? There’s bucket loads of tension, and plenty of emotional angst too as Zane tries to persuade Beth that she’s the one, while she tries equally hard to keep her distance. I was distressed when the story ended on something of a cliffhanger, as I know that the next in the series (Woo Hoo, Cosky’s story!) isn’t out for months! This is a series I shall be following with eager anticipation, as well as keeping an eye on other work that Trish McCallan produces. 5 stars out of 5.